


Intentions

by oldmountainsoul



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Mush, I guess???, One Shot, POV Third Person Omniscient, Sappy Ending, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 07:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12859302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldmountainsoul/pseuds/oldmountainsoul
Summary: In which one person has the best of intentions, and the other has... conflicted ones.A naive, provincial girl and a nefarious vampire were each supposed to lead the other into a trap.Turns out, neither of them have the heart for it.A bit of a 'what if' canon divergence scenario, if the cavalry hadn't shown up in s1ep17





	Intentions

_‘And yet there’s… something about you.’_

 

_‘Maybe it’s my keen fashion sense!’_

 

 _‘Ha... it’s_ **_definitely_ ** _not that.’_

 

Time seemed to slow to a crawl then, Laura frozen in her seat by the way Carmilla was staring at her.

 

The phrase ‘old soul’ was _literally_ true in Carmilla’s case, and it showed. How had she not noticed that before? It was like her roommate was an entirely different person. Gone was the miserable, apathetic girl who just weeks before had engaged her in almost daily shouting matches and always had a scowl on her face.

 

Instead she looked… sweet, almost. Like she was _softer,_ somehow. There was just something so incredibly raw and _vulnerable_ in Carmilla’s gaze. She wondered how she hadn’t noticed before just how endless those eyes looked before, dark and deep and unfathomable. Like they belonged to something sad and wistful and ancient. (And perhaps they did.) She was utterly spellbound by it.

 

And while Laura was _pretty_ sure that vampire hypnotism wasn’t really a thing, why else couldn’t she bring herself to look away?

 

Besides the fact that she was very, very gay, and well, she had _eyes;_ if she hadn’t had such an awful first meeting with Carmilla, it probably wouldn’t have taken her so long for it to really sink in just how incredibly _gorgeous_ her roommate was.

 

How incredibly gorgeous her potentially murderous and/or kidnap-y _vampire_ roommate was, piped up her steadily weakening (and _very_ unhelpful) sense of self-preservation.

 

A sense she probably should be paying more attention to, because honestly right now she can’t tell if Carmilla’s about to eat her or kiss her. Even worse, she’s starting to think she might not mind _either_ outcome here.

 

Carmilla leaned in closer, eyes never leaving Laura’s as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

 

“I would very much like to kiss you, Laura Hollis,” she murmured, reaching up to caress Laura’s cheek.

 

 _Well._ There was _that_ question answered, then.

 

Not that it mattered much, since it seemed like her tiny gay heart had just stopped and she was going to die either way.

 

“Are you asking for permission?” she blurted out.

 

Heart: stopped. Brain: short-circuited. Useless tiny gay feelings: in overdrive.

 

Carmilla’s gaze darted to Laura’s lips. “If you want me to be, then yes.”

 

Okay, _wow,_ now her heart was _definitely_ still beating, and entirely too fast for Laura’s liking at the moment, as if it were trying to race its way out of her chest.

 

All rational thought fled her mind, and before she could reign them in she was leaning in with a whispered _“Yes.”_

 

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t kissed someone before, but kissing Carmilla was nothing at all like the sloppy, awkward teenage fumbling and stolen moments in parked cars and behind bleachers that Laura had experienced before.

 

Carmilla slipped her hand to the back of the younger girl’s head, tugging her closer, surprisingly gentle as she moved her lips against Laura’s. The kiss was soft, tentative despite its heat, and Laura felt like she had never really understood the phrase _‘seeing stars’_ until that moment.

 

After what felt like an eternity, and at the same time, entirely too soon, Carmilla pulled away, looking to her for a reaction.

 

 _“Wow,”_ Laura breathed, dizzy and breathless and literally incapable of thinking of anything else.

 

“Wow,” Carmilla agreed, smiling gently back at her in a way Laura had never seen before, softly combing her fingers through the younger girl’s hair.

 

It took a few moments for her brain to start working with her after that, but when it did, it had a lecture prepared and everything.

 

_Laura Eileen Hollis, you useless lesbian!_

 

_She’s a vampire!_

 

_Pull yourself together!_

 

Screamed what little was left of her good sense. But what ultimately stopped her was something else entirely.

 

“Wait,” Laura said, and Carmilla abruptly dropped her hand, pulling away to study her expression.

 

Yeah, she had hated her roommate to begin with, and she was pretty darn sure Carm was a vampire, but… She couldn’t deny that Carmilla was being really, really sweet, and the look on her face left no doubts to her sincerity. And here she was, taking advantage of that and leading her into a trap.

 

Laura hadn’t stopped her because she was afraid.

 

She had stopped her because she felt _guilty._

 

She took a deep breath, steadying herself. “I need to tell you something first,” she said.

 

“Laura, are you alright?” Carmilla’s brow was furrowed, a perplexed (and _worried?_ ) frown on her face. How in hell or Hogwarts did a _vampire_ manage to look so much like a kicked puppy?

 

And now Laura was at least 90% sure her vampire roommate wasn’t planning to eat her, and 100% sure Carmilla was _adorable._

 

Naturally, with that revelation and due to her being the spectacularly awkward human being that she was, Laura did what she had always done in tense situations: she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

 

“I know that you’re a vampire!”

 

Carmilla froze. She blinked slowly, taking a moment to respond to Laura’s exclamation.

 

“...Well cutie, that is _definitely_ not what I was expecting you to say,” she chuckled, and just like that, the soft, sweet Carmilla from moments before was gone. “If this is about the blood in the milk container again, I already told you that was just a stupid prank.”

 

Laura didn’t buy it then, and she certainly wasn’t about to start buying it now after all the evidence she’d gathered. “Then how do you explain the fact that you’ve been showing up at Silas for like, sixty years now? And that every time you do, a bunch of girls go missing, just like clockwork. _And_ I have photos showing you at every party this year where a girl went missing! You’re a vampire and you’re connected to all of this somehow, aren’t you!”

 

Carmilla leveled her with a hard, inscrutable stare. “...Cupcake, you do realize how insane all of that sounds, right?”

 

“But is it wrong?” Laura retorted.

 

Carmilla sighed and pulled away, agitatedly running her fingers through her hair. “Are you sure you really want the answer to that, sweetheart?”

 

Laura scoffed. “Well, yeah. I’ve kinda been working for those answers all semester, Carm. I’m not giving up now.”

 

Carmilla huffed out a soft laugh. “Of course you aren’t.”

 

Laura scooted her chair closer. “Sooooo, can we stop pretending you aren’t a vampire now?”

 

“If I were a vampire, what’s to stop me from snapping you like a twig and going on my merry way? Why would I bother to answer any of your little questions, creampuff?” Carmilla said, that unreadable expression on her face again.

 

“...Because I’m like, ridiculously adorable?” Laura suggested, putting on her best puppy dog eyes because she was now only about 80% sure Carm wasn’t about to murder her.

 

“Also because um, tonight was kind of supposed to be a trap, and Danny and like an army of Zetas have garlic and crucifixes and stuff and will come looking for you if anything happens to me?” she added quickly.

 

Carmilla’s jaw tightened, her eyes widening and an overwhelming _hurt_ flashed across her face for just a moment before being quickly replaced by a stony facade.

 

 _It’s happening again,_ she thought.

 

But technically, she hadn’t done anything yet, Maman wouldn’t need to know the details, she could still salvage this--

 

“...On second thought, I should probably text them so they don’t like barge in here and try to stake you or something,” Laura said, leaning past her to snatch back her truly archaic phone, pulling the vampire her from her thoughts.

 

Carmilla couldn’t contain her incredulity. _“...What?”_

 

Laura shrugged and offered her a shy smile. “You said it yourself, Carm. You could’ve snapped me like a twig or guzzled me like a slurpee or whatever already if you wanted to. Just because you’re a vampire doesn’t automatically mean you’re some sort of evil kidnapping mastermind. I’m pretty sure I’m safe with you.”

 

“‘Vampire’ and ‘safe’ don’t tend to go hand in hand, cutie,” Carmilla replied. How was she supposed to respond to that? On the one hand, Laura had felt nothing for her, had laid a trap for her the moment she knew what she was, just as Elle had. And yet… Why tell her at all? Why _call it off?_

 

“And you were just luring me into a trap,” she added softly. The irony wasn't lost on her. She was a _vampire;_ she was the one supposed to be leading the ingenue into a trap, not the other way around. Here she was, risking her Mother's wrath for some naive, provincial girl, keeping Laura away from the party and the fate that would have awaited her there.

 

_Always the romantic._

 

_Always the fool._

 

Gods, she really should have known better by now.

 

But then Laura looked up at her with those wide, soft brown eyes, genuinely contrite, and Carmilla couldn't think of anything else.

 

“...I was. I’m sorry.”

 

_Sorry?_

 

 _Laura_ was sorry?

 

The tiny human fidgeted in her seat. “I was supposed to be the um, vampire bait. Hence the puffy sleeves.”

 

“I was wondering why you looked like you wandered off the set of _Wuthering Heights,”_ Carmilla chuckled. “Do you even _have_ a self-preservation instinct in there, buttercup?”

 

“Somewhere in there, yeah.” Laura grinned. “But it’s buried very, very deep most of the time.”

 

“Why does that not surprise me…”

 

“Pretty handy trait to have when your roommate’s a vampire.”

 

“Not a very ‘handy’ trait to have at Silas, cupcake. And I never said I was--”

 

“Come on, Carm! Look!” Laura held up her phone, showing a series of texts to Danny where she assured the ginger giant that _no, there was no need for her to call in the cavalry, yes, she was fine,_ and _no, she hadn’t been brainwashed_ and _she had everything under control._

 

(Laura wasn’t so sure Danny would _believe_ it, and would probably be pissed at her later, but she would burn that bridge when she came to it. ...Cross. Cross that bridge.)

 

“Behold! A gesture of good faith!” Laura exclaimed. She scooted her chair even closer to Carmilla. “Soooooo, you gonna admit to being a vampire now, Carm?” she said hopefully.

 

Carmilla rolled her eyes. “If I must.”

 

“I’m waitingggggggg,” Laura sang.

 

If it were possible to sprain one’s eyes by rolling them too hard, Carmilla might have achieved the feat. “Fine, cutie. I’m a vampire. Are you happy now?” she groaned.

 

Laura beamed, reaching up and booping the vampire on the nose. “No, because you still need to tell me how you’re involved with the missing girls.”

 

“I’m not _involved_ with anyone, buttercup.”

 

“Then what were you doing at _every_ party where one of them went missing?” Laura demanded.

 

“I’m a popular girl. I get a lot of invitations.”

 

“Really? That’s what you’re going with?”

 

“You’re cute, cupcake, but no one’s _that_ cute.”

 

Laura pouted, busting out her tried and true puppy dog eyes.

 

“‘Really? That’s what you’re going with?’” Carmilla mocked, meeting Laura’s gaze with her iciest, most aloof glare.

 

Laura was not to be deterred; if anything, she kicked the pouting up a notch, adding a little quiver to her bottom lip.

 

Carmilla scoffed. “Yeah, you’re a hardened interrogator over there, buttercup. A real professional.”

 

There was no way in hell she was falling for this; Laura had literally _just_ admitted to luring her into a trap. She wasn’t giving in to her tiny, _infuriating,_ adorable roommate’s gooey brown eyes. Really. She wasn’t. Absolutely not.

 

“One of us needs to blink here, cupcake, and it sure as hell isn’t me.”

 

“Dammit,” Laura muttered under her breath, finally turning away from their standoff. “That’s always worked before!”

 

“I’m sure,” Carmilla drawled.

 

(It _had_ almost worked on her, but she would sooner stake herself  than admit that to Laura. The tiny human was obnoxious enough already.)

 

“Might as well return that little getup of yours to the theatre department, Bronte. While your wardrobe is quite frankly, _appalling,_ I can’t imagine even you would own something that ridiculous.”

 

“You _suck_ ,” Laura said, shooting her roommate her fiercest glare. “But yeah, I’m just gonna--” she darted to the dresser and yanked some clothes out, then bolted to the bathroom to change.

 

She stopped in the doorway, whirling around to wave her finger menacingly at the vampire. “Don’t you think for one second that I’m letting you off the hook for this, Carm!”

 

Carmilla scoffed, rolling her eyes at the exchange, and flopped down on her bed after Laura slammed the door behind her. She grabbed the yellow pillow she was so fond of stealing and hugged it to her chest, burying her face in it, entirely uncertain of her feelings on well, _everything_ after whatever it was she should call that disaster was. ...she had hoped it would be her first date with Laura.

 

“Oh, little Laura Hollis, whatever am I going to do with you?” she murmured.

 

A few minutes later, Laura shuffled out of the bathroom, changed out of the ridiculous dress and into her trademark button-down and high-waisted jeans and shifting nervously from foot to foot, her temper apparently vanishing as quickly as it came.

 

Laura couldn't have missed that her roommate had stolen the pillow again, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she grabbed her rolling chair, took a seat, and scooted it up to Carmilla’s bed again.

 

“Hey,” the tiny human said softly.

 

“Hey,” Carmilla replied, glancing up at her warily from behind the pillow.

 

“I really am sorry, by the way.” Laura fidgeted in her seat, not really sure what the protocol was for ‘almost attempted to kidnap your surprisingly not-so-evil vampire roommate but didn’t have the heart to go through with it.’ “For what it’s worth, your stargazing and champagne idea was really sweet. Who knew there was such a softie under all that snark and leather?” she teased.

 

Carmilla glowered. “Tell no one,” she growled, but when she lowered the pillow there was a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

 

Laura giggled, placing her hand over her heart. “Your secret’s safe with me, Carm. Even though I’m not sure why you _wouldn’t_ want people to know about your best qualities.”

 

“Because I have encountered very few people worth the effort,” Carmilla murmured, that fathomless, faraway look back in her eyes again.

 

“That’s a pretty pessimistic way to look at things, don’t you think?” Laura countered.

 

“I’ve lived a very long time, sweetness, and not once has anything ever turned out better than expected. To pretend otherwise is to only invite disappointment.”

 

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. People can always surprise you.”

 

Carmilla glanced up and locked eyes with her, looking as if she was seeing right through her, appraising her somehow, and she held that gaze for several seconds before she finally spoke.

 

“Yes. It seems they can.”


End file.
